Spectral Distortions
by Electric Neptune
Summary: Chapter 7 is up! An obscure legendary Sentient vehicle has resurfaced to fight in the war against the Reds, but it has everyone in its cross-hairs... Especially Battle Force 5.
1. Prologue: Atmospheric Distortions

**A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first fanfic! I'm open to all reviews and as usual, I don't own Battle Force 5. Hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Zemerik warily noted the slight spike in the electronics system of his Sark army network. Zug stood nearby, busying himself with polishing the metal on his vehicle. The Sark leader tapped a few buttons in his Zentner and watched the replay of the rather casual surge of energy.<p>

Someone was perusing through the system, not even concerned about detection. Zemerik leaned back in his seat. No damage done. It was simply snooping around. Obviously _It _was back and now sizing everyone up. Things were going to get much more complicated. Even the Battle Force 5 wasn't safe from this menace.

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><p>Kalus roared, swinging a spear above his head. His loyal hordes cheered as he held the rough blade of the weapon at Krokomodo's scaly neck. The alien crocodile hung his head, grudgingly declaring his leader the winner… again. The crowd chanted Kalus's name as the lion kicked the loser aside, red dust spewing into the heavy air.<p>

The fur on the back of his neck rose. Kalus whirled around, frightening several of the Vandals that were within his intense gaze.

"Is something wrong, Captain Kalus?" Sever asked somewhere beside him.

Kalus blinked. "Something has changed."

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><p>Krytus glared angrily at the red screen in front of him, not even remotely concentrating on the maps on the display. There was not a doubt in his mind; it had returned. It was there in the Shadow Zone, just out of his eyesight. He knew that It understood what could have possibly happened. Krytus could have destroyed the entire Multiverse, but reason was none of Its concern. Nor was the Multiverse it seemed. He hated that thing. Hated more than the Battle Force 5, more than Sage even. Krytus had no idea why it was created or what exactly its abilities were, but he knew one thing…<p>

No one was safe from it.


	2. Burning Wreck :: Ice Cold Destroyer

The obsidian sentient chip glinted dully in her hands as she turned it over. It was nothing special than the other five that she had seen through the computers back at her hub. The only difference was that the whole thing was, well, painted black. No symbol, no background design, just a simple black triangle.

A shadow creature ventured behind her and looked at the chip curiously. The girl looked over her shoulder at it and offered it a closer look. The creature leaned forward on its motorcycle before nodding and driving off. The girl wished that she could be doing just that if Magnus would hurry up and issue a dismissal. It got a little depressing being in the desolate landscape of the Shadow Zones. Needless to say that it was surprising when she saw a burst of red from her soon to be targets flying through the wasteland a few days ago.

Black, white and every shade of gray dominated this place. Heck, her vehicle was black and gray along with her heavily armored shock suit. She mused how much she looked like a member of the BF5, with the colors drained.

"Rayen Blank! Stop messing around with the sentient chip and put it back in your vehicle!"

She nearly dropped said chip as her comm link lit up on her arm. "S-sorry."

An audible sigh emitted from the device. "What am I going to do with you? Anyway, the Battle Force 5 has entered a nearby battle zone. Some red Zurk are there as well."

Rayen unfolded her legs and lifted herself from the boulder she was previously occupying. "The objective?"

"Introduce yourself to those humans and get the battle key. That is all."

The link shut off.

"Righto," she said while she walked over to another time-scarred boulder. She held the chip up to the rock and watched its surface pixelate and fade into the stale air. A lifeless black car hid within the stealth cloak, its sharp yet sleek edges devoured any light that touched it. Even the windows were impossible to look through from the outside. It sat there, body low to the ground, waiting to strike. Rayen opened the door and popped the chip back into the central panel. Immediately, screens in varying green hues came online. Numerous clicks and whirs announced that the vehicle was in the process of a system check. She gripped the steering wheel, waiting for the blue 'systems cleared' light on the dashboard to light up.

It flashed on.

Rayen gunned the engine. "It's show time."

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><p>Sherman studied the data carefully on his laptop screen. Yes, there were a few oddities in the Hub's systems the last few days. Of course the electric surges were also coinciding with Spinner's obsessive playing with the new "Slugbots of Goop-World 6" video game. Those ridiculous games always seemed to put a little stress on the system. Sage was her normal self also, which further strengthened Sherman's reasons to smack his older brother around, or hold his new game hostage. Perhaps endangering his tuna milkshake stash would be adequate leverage…<p>

Sirens wailed through the Hub, signaling the approach of a stormshock. Sherman jumped from his desk, shoving the electric surges to the back of his mind.

"Watch out for those thorns, everyone!" Vert said over the link. Sherman and Spinner looked out the windshield of the Buster and saw a maze of brambles adorned with giant sickly colored thorns.

The younger Cortez scanned one of the alien plants. "It's made out of some kind of biologically-altered heavy metal. Most likely Titanium or Selenium."

"In normal people-speak?" Zoom asked.

"Try not to hit them, and whatever you do, don't touch them with your bare skin."

Spinner gripped his controls. "I'm not even going to ask what happens if we do."

"Alright, fan out and find the key. If you run into any Reds, take them out."

All of the vehicles hurdled down their chosen paths, completely oblivious to the fact that they were being monitored.

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><p>"Bigfoot is a perfectly good name for a goldfish! Why can't you just accept my genius?" Spinner ranted.<p>

Sherman rolled his eyes."It's a wonderful name for a goldfish if you're IQ is equivalent to that of a toaster."

His older brother went on a tirade, but Sherman paid no attention. He turned down another thorn-enclosed path and slammed on the brakes.

"Suppressed genius is not a good thing you- augh!" Spinner collided with the back of his brother's seat, "What was that for?... Whoa."

Stretched out before the Buster was a dozen wrecked Sark vehicles. Opaque smoke rose out from their mutilated shells while flashes of loose electricity jumped around freely. Red parts were strewn all over the area, giving the brothers the impression of a tremendous force that had swept through here.

Sherman analyzed the closest wreck. "The metal is severely traumatized. Some pretty jagged blades cut through these guys and not long ago, either."

Spinner squirmed in his seat. "Oh great. Another Battle Zone Monster. I just hope it's not Robo-Fido's cousin."

"It's not a large creature, probably around Reverb-size. We better tell the others." Sherman activated the comm link, "Keep your eyes open, you guys. There's some kind of creature living here. Possibly smaller than the Buster. We just came across some Red Zurk that were obliterated. I'm sending an image."

He didn't have to wait long before he heard reactions from his teammates.

"How do we know it's not a trap from the Reds?" Zoom asked.

"It looked too violent for anything they could do."Agura said.

"Maybe we should have brought Tezz along. The monster could have found him-"

"STANFORD!"

"I-I was just joking! Geez…"

Vert sighed, "Alright, Stanford, echo-map this zone. We need to get out of here before that thing shows up."

There was a brief silence in the channel as Stanford prepared the map.

Sherman checked all of his controls in case the Buster happened to run into whatever destroyed the Zurk. There was a slight increase in the channel's activity.

Like someone else was present.

He brought up the communications network screen. Excluding the Buster, there were five separate channels; Vert, Agura, Zoom, Stanford and the Hub. The energy reading was similar to that of the surge at the Hub. A map of the battle zone popped onto Sherman's screen. He blinked at the sudden change, then looked at the map. The key was ahead of the wreckage.

"Sherman, Spinner, your closest to the key. Agura has the fuser and she's headed your way. Don't go on until she's the-rereere- bzzzzt!"

Vert's link broke.

Sherman jabbed at his control panel, "Vert? You there? Agura? Does anybody read me?"

"WE'RE DOOMED!" Spinner shrieked.

"Calm down, bro." Sherman turned back around to the communications screen. All of the lines were down.

He tried again. "Can anyone read me?"

"I read you just fine."

The brothers froze. A female voice filtered through the link, right as a black car melted into existence; in the middle of the wreckage.

"I am Rayen Blank. And at the risk of sounding cliché: I am your worst nightmare."


	3. Gray Logic :: Dark Intentions

A/N: Hey everybody! Thank you very much for your reviews. They inspire me to keep on writing! :)

I do not own Battle Force 5. I only own Rayen, Magnus, the Specter and the base that they reside in.

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><p>Sherman gripped the controls of the Buster. The black car had a pair of blades on the side of it; the same ones that had ripped into the Zurk. He tried to peer into the heavily tinted windows, but he had no success.<p>

"Who are you?" Sherman demanded.

"Didn't I just tell you that?" She replied.

"You have a vehicle that is close to the makeup of ours. By Sentient legend, that's impossible."

"Yet here it is. A Sentient-powered vehicle."

"Alright then, whose faction do you belong to?"

"You discovered one faction that I don't represent." The black car's front wheels moved from side to side, indicating the Zurk.

"Then you're on our side?"

"That would explain the Zurk," Spinner said.

"No." She replied curtly.

Sherman knitted his eyebrows. "Then how did you get a hold of your vehicle? The Reds are evil and the Blue Sentients, one of which gave us these vehicles, are good. There's no other types."

"You have a stupidly simplistic view of the world, Sherman. You only know of Krytus and Sage, so you only think of one race being 'good' and one being 'evil'. Sentients, like humans, are inconsistent with their personalities. Just because a vast majority of them is good, doesn't mean that there are a few bad apples lurking around. The same goes vice-versa. And just because one is saving the Multiverse and another is trying to rule it doesn't mean that everyone has picked their side of choice."

Sherman and Spinner looked at each other. Sherman had no idea how she knew his name, but he had a strange feeling of what was coming next. If he could only warn Agura.

"What do you want from us?" He asked.

"To stay out of my way when I retrieve the key."

Sherman revved the engines. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Very well then. Let's see how your armor fares against the Specter." The communications clicked off.

Immediately, four voices were shouting into the link, "SHERMAN! SPINNER!"

"We have a big problem," Sherman said slowly.

Vert broke in, "Are you guys hurt?"

"We will be in a moment," Spinner said.

Sherman tried to say something to Agura when the deep guttural roar of an engine echoed through the zone. The Specter charged straight at the Buster, its side-blades glinting. Sherman threw the Buster's controls to the side, but the tank was too slow. The horrible screech of metal and the thunderous crack of tires bursting filled the cabin. The entire blue vehicle stuttered before it slowly fell sideways. A mob of red warning lights flared on both of the brothers' panels, while several screens offlined from the damage.

"We lost two wheels on the left! Agura! Save us!" Spinner screamed.

"I said to calm down!" Sherman yelled. He turned to the comm links. "Rayen, stop your attack!"

The black car appeared in front of them. "Give up?"

"Why do we have to fight each other? We both hate the Reds and we want to protect the Multiverse and Earth, right?" Sherman dearly hoped that this statement would reach her.

"Your internal logic means nothing to me." Or not.

The Specter began to charge again. Its blades almost touched the blue metal when it suddenly went flying backwards.

"What the-" Rayen's surprised tone filled the silence that followed as she was flung down the path. A green towline let go of the black vehicle. It landed with a heavy thud and rolled several times before its momentum ebbed.

"I love you Agura!" Spinner sang.

The Tangler was resting on the top brambles, the towline retracting into the undercarriage. "Looks like you boys needed a hand," Agura stopped when her mocha eyes saw the totaled side of the Buster, "That little thing did _that_ to you? Are you guys okay?"

"Agura! She wants the battle key! We gotta stop her!" Sherman said urgently.

The Tangler climbed down the brambles, "Do you think you guys can fuse?"

Sherman shook his head, "We can't move. The drivetrain's a wreck."

"Don't worry you guys, I'll stop her." The Tangler turned around to face the unknown vehicle.

Nothing was there. Agura slammed the throttle down. The Tangler's giant tires spun and she raced off down the path. Her heart pounded as a fresh wave of adrenaline hit her. That car wasn't going to get away with the key. Not on her watch. The steady glow of red taillights caught the hunter's eyes. The map on her console began to sound off a warning. Agura glanced down and her heart skipped a beat. The battle key was moving right with the black car.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Agura pressed her foot harder into the already flattened throttle. The Tangler's engine roared, but it wasn't enough. The bright light of a stormshock flashed. Agura's foot slipped off the accelerator. The green vehicle slowed to a gradual stop.

They lost the key.

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><p>"Friggin oversized grasshopper-mobile with that friggin towline… I should have paid more attention the diagrams." Rayen mumbled as the Specter coasted down a dark track. The sides were aligned with bright lights, illuminating the way into the Hub. Her fingers drummed the steering wheel while she waited for maintenance bay to come into view. The Specter automatically slowed as a series of lights flickered on around the track. A small structure that looked like a vintage train shed lit up. The car came to a halt on the turntable like platform. Beyond the platform was a metal shed with two differently sized doors. The largest one held a Mobi while the smaller one that the turntable was aligned to was the Specter's station.<p>

Rayen got out of the car and stretched, "Magnus."

The doors to the Mobi slid apart. A tall blue sentient floated out.

His eyes flicked from Rayen to the battle key on the front of the Specters long nose. "I take it that your mission was a limited success."

"Limited?"

"You have roll damage," Magnus stated.

"Well, yes, I suppose so, but I'd classify it as 'light roll damage.'"

The Sentient rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. Did you meet the leader?"

"No, but I met the Buster and the Tangler." Rayen took the battle key off the hood of the Specter.

"Fair enough. That was a bit of a hard zone to navigate and find the specific target." Magnus gently lifted the key from Rayen's outstretched hand.

"So this thing is part of what we need to find it?" Rayen asked.

Magnus nodded, "Specific zones have the keys we need to unlock it. They also offer information to the location and what else we might need to obtain the artifact."

"Sounds good. Anymore orders?"

"Just fix your vehicle. After that, you're dismissed."

As soon as Rayen drove the Specter into the garage, Magnus studied the key, "Soon, my friend. Very soon."

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><p><strong>AN:** The 'internal logic' is a nod towards the wonderful game _The World Ends With You_.


	4. Rebuild :: Revenge

**A/N:** I do not own Battle Force 5 *sigh*. I changed the title simply because when I first thought of the story, End of the Line had some significance to it... But then the story ran off in a new direction and the only way for me to catch it was to give it a new and more suitable title. When the story heard the new title, it stopped long enough for me to put the leash back on it. :)

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><p>Morale had reached an all-time low in the BF5's hub. Everyone was gathered around the Buster, helping to repair its wounds. The only time they spoke was to ask Sherman how things went back together.<p>

Sage was nearby, furiously working on the databanks to see where another vehicle Sentient Legend could be hiding. There was no sign of a sentient chip existing outside of The 5. So how could one possibly exist?

"Battle Force, may I speak with you for a moment?" Sage asked. There was a generally consensus of heads nodding and they all clamored down, out and from under the Buster.

"What's the news Sage?" Vert asked, noting that the look on her face wasn't promising.

"There is no data on this vehicle. I have checked all of the Mobi's files and my own, but nothing has yielded an answer."

Sage said. A.J. crossed his arms. "So we're fighting something that isn't real?"

Tezz pointed to the Buster's damage. "That is an invalid hypothesis. What the Buster fought was indeed real, but someone has taken great pains to erase all information of the hostile vehicle's existence."

Sage nodded to the Russian. "I agree with Tezz, but it is not in Blue and Red Sentient nature to leave a creation's existence such as this out of the data-logs."

Sherman's mind flashed back to Rayen's speech about varying personalities. "Whoever created it must have been a very… different from the rest. Do you remember someone like that Sage?"

The Sentient looked at the floor. "Hm. I do not seem to have a clear file on such an individual. It will take some time for me to sort through my memory to see if something fits that description that is provided in the Buster's communication archive with the vehicle's driver."

Stanford stepped forward. "So what happens in the meantime? I mean, that mad machine has the battle key. It could waltz in here and destroy us!"

"A surveillance system is imperative at this moment. I advise that all those who are not crucial to the Buster's repair should scan the desert," Sage said as she floated to the lift in the middle of the room, "Also, bring the Binary Fusion Pod with you in case you intercept the vehicle." The lift lurched and brought Sage down to the darkness below.

"Zoom, Stanford and I have first watch," Vert said as he headed towards the Saber.

"Aren't I crucial to the repair team?" Stanford whined.

"Dude, you asked where the _taillight_ went," Spinner said.

"That's a common mistake!"

The entire team stared at him.

The Brit stomped off to the Reverb.

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><p>"You seemed to cause a bit of a ruckus with them." Magnus turned around from the cluster of triangular screens in front of him.<p>

Rayen worked at another cluster of screens, directing metal arms to replace the Specter's damaged shell. "That's not exactly an impossible feat. They have all of the battle keys that they ever won, sans the key when they faced their Mirror-selves."

The old Sentient nodded, "Yes, but their reaction is worrying me. Sage has performed several scans of the whole planet trying to find us. Thankfully the base is at the appropriate depth in the ground that her sensors can never reach."

"Mm-hm."

"Rayen, I might send you on another mission."

The girl blew her short black hair out of her face.

Magnus turned around. "Are you paying attention to me?"

"I am now."

Magnus sighed, "I am going to send you on another later this evening."

"And this one is for?" "The next battle key that we need is in the hands of the Battle Force 5."

The steady tapping from Rayen's computer stopped. She whirled around, her arm smacking the controls. One of the metal robot arms launched at the other and the two began a slapping match.

"Have you lost it? I can't go in there. Plus, did you see the size of Sherman from the diagrams? He's huge! He could kill me with his little finger after what I just did to him!"

Magnus raised an eyebrow at the fighting robots behind her. "I'm not saying you have to go in there, all I'm saying is that we need them to bring it to you. And Sherman's as harmless as a platypus."

It was Rayen's turn to raise an eyebrow. "And that is the strangest analogy I've ever heard of."

"You get the point. Why don't you shut your computer down before the repair machines offline each other?" Magnus nodded to the arms.

Rayen turned around to find that several more arms had joined the fight and had somehow managed to organize an arm-wrestling tournament.

The girl jabbed the off-switch. "Listen, Magnus, as much as I'd love to, I'm not sure how this plan is going to work."

Magnus smiled, "It's easy. All you have to do is offer them a trade."

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><p>Zoom scanned the distant mountainous horizon. Nothing but salt flats, rocks and more salt flats. He shook his head. It was hard for him to see why they needed to do all of these security measures. It was just <em>one <em>vehicle. One Fused attack from the Smash Claw or the Sky Knife would scare the driver. Plus five on one didn't sound like the greatest odds. But whatever made Sage and the others feels safe, he guessed.

Zoom revved the Chopper and sped off towards… another distant mountainous range. He sighed and slowed the bike down a little, not keen on overheating the engines. Stars began to shine as he drove under the darkening sky.

Then there was the issue of the key. Why did she want it? That girl isn't on any side. It had no significance to her… The Double Helix Crystal was destroyed, so there were no other cataclysmic items hanging around. To him, she sounded like…

"Like a crazy Rawkus-wannabe," He said and shook his head. If she was going for the Eternal Equalizer's job, then she was plain nuts with some extra cashews thrown in.

His entire frame jarred violently. Zoom blinked and found the Chopper flipping into the air. His mind kicked into survival mode when a black hood of a car faded into view underneath him. The Chopper crashed on the ground and rolled several times, chunks of yellow armor flying off of every rotation. The Muay Thai fighter landed expertly on the chipped earth. He paid no attention his damaged bike and focused on the black vehicle turned towards him.

Zoom's comm link lit up. "I didn't appreciate your comment." She sounded visibly annoyed.

He smiled slightly. "Good."

"Cocky little jerk."

"Why don't you come out and face me like an honorable warrior?" Zoom demanded. He held out his hand, fingers upward and bent them forward.

"You're not going to call your friends?"

"I'm not scared of you."

She chuckled, "Very well then. What if I win? Then what will you do?"

"They'll come for me. They got my back and I have theirs," Zoom said proudly.

The line fell silent for a long ten seconds. Zoom stared at the Specter, wondering what was going on inside the cab.

"Honor is none of my concern. I will do whatever it takes to fulfill my task."

Zoom's eyes widened as the Specter launched at the scout, a black blur consuming his vision.

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><p><strong>AN:** Poor Zoom. I'm sure the loveable warrior can handle this ;) And thanks for your reviews!


	5. Lost Cause :: New Problem

A/N: I do not own BF5... Thanks for your wonderful reviews!

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><p>Sherman leaned back in his seat. The last of the programs had been downloaded into the Buster's systems, completing the repairs. The others, including Spinner had left to rest before relieving Vert, Stanford and Zoom of watch duty. He tapped several keys and waited for the communication channel to open to the entire team to report them of the Buster's recovery. Only one channel appeared on the screen. Sherman's eyes widened.<p>

Rayen's voice drifted over the audio. "Hello Sherman. I believe I have some rather interesting news to share with you and your team."

"Rayen?"

"The one and only."

"Haven't you done enough already?" Sherman didn't want to end up with more blown tires and an older brother on the verge of a nervous breakdown for the second time today.

There was a brief silence on the line. "Listen, I have come to make a trade for one of your battle keys."

Sherman ignored her. "Can't we just talk things out? I'm sure Vert would be alright with you joining the team. And then you-"

"You are nothing to me. Neither is your team," Rayen growled.

Sherman's shoulders sagged. "You don't really mean that, do you?"

"I… Just bring the battle key that you collected from the crystal battle zone to these coordinates." A set of numbers displayed on the blue screen the same time that Rayen's link disappeared.

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><p>Rayen leaned heavily back in her seat. What was with that guy? She totaled the side of the Buster and he was trying to get her to join them. All on the first day that she faced him. He didn't make any sense.<p>

"If you hurt Sherman's feelings, you are so gonna get owned when everyone shows up," Zoom said.

The Specter's driver looked up to see a pair of dark eyes glaring at her through the top of the windshield. She knew she shouldn't have told him who she was talking to. "What?"

"He's the nicest guy around. He doesn't deserve to be tormented by you."

Rayen gritted her teeth. "I wasn't tormenting him. If he's that sensitive, maybe he needs to man up."

"He'll have no problems attacking you, regardless if I'm tied to the roof of your junk heap." A big grin stretched across Zoom's face.

"Junk heap? If it wasn't for this mission, I would get out there and deck you, you little snot."

"Well, what's holding you back, little girl?"

Rayen snarled when a new communication line appeared. Magnus was calling to reign her in .

"Ignore him. He is simply a device for negotiations. His existence means nothing to the mission." The link shut off.

"Yes sir." Rayen looked at the Scout again. He was sticking his tongue at her. "Oi! Don't you dare slobber on my windshield!" Rayen yelled.

Zoom suddenly looked up. Rayen followed his gaze to the dark horizon. Headlights shone in the distance. The noise of engines was on the threshold of her hearing. It was time.

In a matter of minutes, the Saber, Tangler, Buster (Rayen noticed its glimmering new paintjob on its side) and the Splitwire stopped a short distance from the Specter. The link filled with all of their voices checking on the Scout. Rayen waited until they got over the fact that Zoom was held down to the roof of the Specter with very jagged blades that were pressing into his shock suit, ready to tear through him at a moment's notice.

"Greetings Battle Force 5, I am Rayen Blank, driver of the Specter, the Sixth Sentient Vehicle." She glanced back at the Buster and saw the translucent key attached to its hood. "I see you brought it."

The Saber lurched forward. "I am Vert Wheeler, the leader. What is it that you want with the battle keys? Who do you represent?"

"It's none of your concern."

"That's her favorite line, Vert," Zoom said.

"Whatever your task is, it must be important for you to have one of our teammates as a hostage." Tezz broke in.

"What are your conditions, Rayen?" Vert's tone was threatening.

"If you give me that battle key, I'll give you the one that you lost this morning, along with an uninjured yellow-suited monkey."

"Hey!" Zoom shouted.

Vert sighed, "No matter what we do, we lose, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that. It depends on how much the scout means to you."

"Don't do it, Vert! The mission comes before the man, remember?" Zoom said.

"Alright, we'll trade you the key. Sherman."

Rayen swore she could here Zoom's jaw drop onto the roof of the Specter's as the Buster's hadron beam shot out and dropped the crystal zone key onto the Specter's hood. Rayen hesitated before she flipped the switch next to her steering wheel. This was going way too easily. The reports on their personalities predicted that there would be some sort of confrontation among team members or… She released her hadron beam and placed her key on the Buster. With the keys exchanged, Rayen sprang into action. The blades peeled off of Zoom as she slammed the clutch into reverse.

"Whoa!" Zoom slid off the roof from the force and jumped onto the ground. The Specter's hadron beam arced out and swiped the key off the Buster, eliciting cries of outrage from the BF5. Warning lights screamed on the Specter's radar, signaling something quite large was directly behind her.

The Mobi materialized into view. Rayen stomped the brakes and the Specter slid to a stop, nearly colliding with the giant transport. She looked in front of her and found that the other vehicles had created a semi-circle around her. "I knew you weren't up to any good."

Vert's voice came through. "Look who's talking."

"We may not be the best actors in the world, but we sure got ya!" An energetic voice said. _That must be A.J. Dalton. _Rayen looked at the Mobi, then back to the vehicles. She was really hoping that she didn't have to reveal her secret weapon on the first day, but life seldom worked out like that.

"I assume you plan to capture me, interrogate me and analyze the Specter to find all of its tech secrets?" Rayen asked. Her hand inched towards a hidden switch onto of the shifter.

"That's the idea, but we won't harm you. You kept your promise with releasing Zoom uninjured." Vert said.

"Just because I let him go uninjured, huh?"

"We want to help you, Rayen. Just please tell us what you're after." Sherman's voice sounded… like he was pleading. Rayen shook her head. These guys were really getting on her nerves now. She gripped the shifter and lifted the translucent red cover over the switch with her thumb and flipped it. The Specter's engine began to power down. Multiple green screens disappeared as other lights in the cabin shut off. A sole screen appeared on the dashboard. The only text written on it was "Ready?"

Rayen nodded and leaned back in her seat. "Let's get this over with."

An unpleasant tingling sensation encased her spine as dozens of tiny needles from the back of the driver seat pricked into her shock suit. Rayen winced as they dug into her skin. Small shoots of pain briefly numbed her arms and legs while the needles began to transfer her energy to the Specter. Orange tinted screens flashed on, the main one suddenly flickered annoyingly, alerting Rayen to a timer. She only had five minutes to get out of here. Less if she had to transfer energy to the Specter's weapons.

Outside of the Specter, Sherman smiled and turned to Spinner. "See, I told you she's a good person."

Spinner looked at his screens. "Yeah, the engine is powering down. I guess you did get through to her."

"That's one less thing to worry about," Vert said while he watched the headlights turn off.

"On the contrary. There is a massive power build up occurring within the Specter's systems." Tezz calmly stated.

Before anyone could respond, the Specter's engine roared to life with much more ferocity then previously.

"You help me? Don't be a naïve idiot, Sherman. You don't serve any kind of purpose to me. None of you do." Rayen's voice announced over the increasing roar of the engine.

The Saber's chainsaw came to life. "Stand down, Rayen, this is your final warning."

From behind her, Rayen heard the Mobi's engines cycling faster. She glanced at the timer. 4: 28 and counting.

It was time to get out of here. She drove forward, scattering the vehicles. An electric volt flew through the air from the Splitwire's catapult. Rayen breathed deeply as she mentally commanded the Specter to deploy its best defense. The blue sparkling orb hit the black car and lingered there before melting into the Specter. Water-like ripples traveled away from the site where the shot had been absorbed. A moment later, it resurged and shot back out at the Splitwire. The timer flickered; the numbers fell to 2 minutes from her energy expenditure.

Tezz rapidly turned the steering wheel, nearly being zapped by his own attack as it flew past. "It is able to disassemble and reassemble matter? Amazing!"

"It's a psycho car!" Zoom said, still unsure at what he had just seen.

"That's it! Let's see you dodge all of these!" A.J. yelled. Several small missiles flew at the Specter. Once again, all of them were absorbed and fired back at their point of origin.

"Oh snap." A.J. ducked behind the control panel as the Mobi rocked and shuddered from the blows. The Saber burst through all of the smoke from the missiles and chased after the Specter. Vert's foot was pushing the throttle all the way to the floor, but the Specter was still pulling away from him. Farther behind him, the Tangler, Buster and Splitwire were regrouping from dodging missiles. Agura's towline shot past the Saber, but the line fell short by yards. Vert sighed heavily; there was no way they could get the keys back from her. A portal opened in front of the distant black car.

"You win this time, Rayen," he said as strongly as he could, but he could feel his voice breaking, "But the next time we face you… We will destroy you."

There was no response as the portal closed. Somehow Vert knew that she got the message.

* * *

><p>The Specter crawled into its dark bay. It stopped suddenly while its engine slowly powered down.<p>

Magnus floated to the driver's door. "Are you alright in there?"

The door opened and Rayen's hand dropped to the side. She stared ahead, her eyes barely open.

"Oh dear." Magnus unbuckled Rayen and lifted her out gently. "They were that determined?"

"Missiles… Mobi… S-sleep…"

"You're too weak to go to the Shadow Zone and rest," Magnus said as he floated over to a pair of glass doors at the side of the terminal. They opened, revealing a bright infirmary on the other side.

Magnus carefully placed Rayen onto a cot. "Go to sleep, Rayen. You did a fine job." He looked at the glowing battle keys on the Specter's hood across the terminal, "A very fine job."

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><p>AN: Good gravy, this chapter was a little hard to write, mainly because of the POV shifts from Rayen to the BF5. I tried to separate the voices as much as I could.


	6. Time Lapse :: Lapsed Judgement

AN: I don't own Battle Force 5. Hey everyone! Thanks for your reviews and I will reply to them when my epic duel with life calms down in a week or so. I greatly appreciate them and you guys for taking time to read my story!

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><p>A week had passed since Rayen's terrifying introduction had taken place. Life in the Hub had settled down to almost normal levels, save for the constant patrolling still in effect. Sherman looked over at the main terminal where the Chopper rested, its new armor and wheels shining in the bright lights. He turned away from the Mobi's windows of the bridge and gazed at several of the loading screens.<p>

The Mobi had incurred some damage, most of it being superficial. Spinner worked at one of the back stations, upgrading its defense programs. He yawned as the loading gauge slowly rose. Sherman looked again at the screens at his workstation. All of them were also sluggishly moving across the illuminated screens.

"Do you really think she's a bad person?" Sherman asked, his focus still on the panel in front of him.

Spinner groaned, "Do we have to go through this _again?_" How many times have you asked me that?"

"Sorry." The younger Cortez slid into his station's seat.

"Listen, bro. In the total of one day she rammed the Buster, totaled the Chopper, nearly electrocuted the Splitwire with its own weapons, called you an idiot, damaged the Mobi, captured Zoom with those weird blade-thingies or however he described them, called you an idiot again, unleashed some weird energy and took two battle keys. Need I say more?"

Sherman leaned back in his chair. "But still, she didn't hurt anybody. If she really was evil, I'm sure we wouldn't be here talking to each other." He turned around to face his brother. "Something's off."

Spinner sighed and slid deeper into his chair. "You're not going to give up on her, are you?"

His baby brother looked at the floor.

Spinner sighed and got up from his chair and walked over to Sherman. He leaned close to his ear. "I don't want to say this out loud; I nabbed her comm link frequency."

Sherman looked up at him, incredulous.

Spinner continued, "I was going to hand it over to Sage, but you seem to be really gung-ho about learning what makes her tick."

"Spinner, I-"

His older brother held up his index finger. "But you only have one shot. The next time that we meet her on the battlefield and she hurts someone on our side- that's it. You cut off communication with her and I give the link to Vert and Sage. Got it?"

Sherman stared at his older brother for a moment. He suddenly jumped up and wrapped Spinner in a crushing hug. "Thank you! I'll buy you any game you want! You're the best, big bro!"

"Alright, alright, get off of me, you big lug!" Spinner's muffled voice said. Both comm links simultaneously sounded.

"Battle Force 5, report to the central terminal for urgent news. I repeat, report to the central terminal for urgent news."

The twins looked at each other, then out the window of the Mobi. Both of their jaws dropped at an unusual occurrence taking place. "This _can't_ be good," Spinner said before the twins ran out of the Mobi.

Rawkus stood beside Sage, his motorcycle resting near Zoom's Chopper. He scanned the group of humans that were gathering in front of him as he waited for the Blue Sentient to begin.

"I have found in my memory that there was a sentient that fit Sherman's description. His name is Magnus. I met him during the final stages of the war, but I did not know much about him except for the fact that he was one of the blue Sentients that researched the Shadow Zones. Rawkus, however, knows more about his… experiments than I can recollect."

Rawkus took a step forward. "Listen up, because I'm only going to say this once. Magnus is the only blue sentient that has managed to elude me and his entire race. I've witnessed many of his projects dealing with the Shadow Zones and I can tell you one thing: He might be more threatening than Krytus."

There was a collective gasp from the group. Everyone glanced around at each other before Zoom spoke up. "But he's blue. Isn't he supposed to be a good guy?"

The Eternal Equalizer shook his head. " I said he _might _be. Magnus has a strange way of thinking and carrying out his actions. I can say that he has done some things what the sentients could deem as "good." Magnus found the dangers of the Shadow Zones, especially the mixture between Red Sentient matter and Shadow matter. He also sealed off the zones so that only I and select others had the ability to enter them." He glanced briefly at Vert and Zoom. "But he also created the Specter and has been rumored to creating the Shadow Speeders. Even I cannot judge what side he was on during the old war, but in this one he's playing his own angle and using that human female to complete his task."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Vert asked.

"Magnus is after something, but I don't know what it is. Since you failed to protect your battle keys, my best guess is that he is looking for a specific Interzone."

Vert growled at Rawkus, but the Equalizer ignored him. "But, he is a manipulative and creative genius, being the one that created the Specter, a vehicle that consists of a mixture of shadow matter as well as red and blue sentient technology, but his methods are causing many shifts in the equilibrium, and I _hate_ shifts. The only thing you can do to stop him is to destroy the Specter."

"What about the driver?" Agura asked.

Rawkus scratched his slate-colored beard. "She is something that I wasn't expecting. The female could have full knowledge of what Magnus is after or he could have made her believe something that is completely fabricated. For the time being, be wary of her. If you can, capture her and I will figure out for myself if she needs to be disposed of or not."

The Hub went quiet. More looks were exchanged between teammates as everyone was processing what he said. It had never occurred to them that a human would be _disposed _in this war_._

"What would the Specter's weaknesses be? It seems to have perfect defense and offense." Tezz said.

"That's right. That thing showed us some pretty freaky powers." A.J. gestured to the Mobi's side. Clusters of plates were removed, showing burnt metal underneath.

"I don't know what the Specter's weakness is, courtesy of Magnus's elusiveness. All I know is that it operates differently than your vehicles since it was originally designed to patrol the Shadow Zones."

Stanford folded his arms. "Well, that's reassuring."

Rawkus ignored him. "That's all of the information that I have. I hate to say this, but I actually need your assistance for this one."

Sage nodded to the Battle Force. "I have other matters to discuss with Rawkus. You are all dismissed."

Sherman looked at Rawkus as the group began to disperse. Spinner threw a nervous glance at him before heading back to the Mobi. The younger Cortez stood there and glanced down at the floor. He only had one chance to talk to her, if she would answer him at all. That one chance would decide everything. Sherman lifted his head, determination set on his face when he found Rawkus staring at him. The Cortez spun around with much more speed than he needed and shuffled over to the Mobi. As he approached the open bay doors, he looked at his arm at the device on his arm. The comm link was the only connection that he had to Rayen; the only way to save her.

* * *

><p>Dead was the very definition of Rayen's mood, or at least she felt like she had been. She stared sleepily at the gray sky, wondering if she would ever feel normal again. <em>I'll probably feel better when the next mission comes in.<em>

She was lying on a rather smooth boulder, her hands under her head. A Shadow Speeder sat beside her while another one was poking at the Specter, which was parked nearby. If there was one thing she hated, it was rejuvenating on Earth and then coming to the Shadow Zone when she was strong enough to complete her recovery. For some odd reason, her recovery from the Specter's bio systems was greatly hindered by the simple journey.

Well, right now, that wasn't her biggest problem. It was the Battle Force 5. More specifically, the driver of the Buster Tank. In one day, using just his freakin' naiveté, Sherman very nearly broke her down. Not in tears, but almost made her think not to take the battle keys. _And_ of releasing Zoom. Maybe it wasn't her day? No, it wasn't that. Magnus trained her not to make those types of assumptions or to ever question a mission. That day she suffered from a total failure of something else… But she was too tired to figure it out. Whatever it was, she would have to block out the Battle Force 5 until she came with a valid conclusion. For now, she had to focus at the task at hand.

Her comm link lit up, telling her that someone was trying to reach her. She knew who it was. Rayen slapped the link without looking at who was waiting on the other end of the line. There was no need to know who it was. It was Magnus, as always.

"Rayen?" A deep voice sounded out of the link.

Rayen's eyes flew open.

It wasn't Magnus.

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><p>AN: Duh-duh-DUN! I just had to throw that in there XD.<p> 


	7. Unanswered Knowledge :: Blinding Light

**A/N: Hey! Yes, I'm still alive. I'm so sorry for the stupidly large gap in time between the last update and this one, but I'll hopefully be getting the chapters out faster. There's just been a ton of things going on right now. Ah yes, and thank you for your awesome reviews! You guys are awesome!**

**Quick Note:_ Rayen's thoughts are displayed like this._  
><strong>

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><p>The blue glow of Sage's computer was the only source of illumination that lit the small room. The soft whirring of the electronics was the only sound that bounced off the smooth silver walls. Sage stood at said computer, tapping at the interface, waiting for Rawkus to give the answer to her question.<p>

The great stone warrior shifted uncomfortably behind her. "The reason that I don't know what the Specter's weakness is that I never found one."

Sage's translucent fingers stopped. She slowly turned towards him, her bright eyes growing wide.

Rawkus continued. "I've fought the Specter many times over the centuries when Magnus's actions became distorted. But I never managed to damage it."

Sage found her vocal function. "It must have a weakness. There is no such thing as a perfect machine. Even my people have physical and mental imperfections."

"That's not all that's bad. Every time I encountered the Specter, its abilities and technologies changed up. The strange energy that it showed when your team battled it was the worst I've seen to date.

Sage looked at the floor for a few seconds before nodding solemnly. "I can understand why you hid this information from the Battle Force 5. It could cause hopelessness and doubt to spread throughout the team."

Rawkus stepped forward and pressed several keys on the interface. Maps of the Sark and Vandal home worlds appeared, along with the Red Sentient 5's base. "TheSpecter has already let its presence be known to your enemies, especially Kyrtus. Magnus is setting an elaborate and large stage."

Sage looked at the RS5's image. "This explains why my brother has been inactive recently."

Rawkus nodded at her. "He's unsure of what his next move should be with the Specter lurking around, but I doubt that will stop him if an opportunity presents itself."

The Blue Sentient sighed. The shifting of stones brought her attention back to Rawkus, who was walking towards the door.

"Is there any other information on the driver?" She asked.

The Equalizer looked back at her as the doors peeled back. "By being the new driver, she's simply buying him time to scheme. I'll be around this part of the Multiverse for a while in case the Specter shows."

A metal clang reverberated around the walls as the doors shut. Sage continued to stare at the floor, lost in thought.

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><p>Rayen sat bolt upright, scaring away the Shadow Speeder that was sitting next to her. <strong><em>I'm going to get shot for this… I know it. <em>**She knew Magnus had never wished harm on her for all the times she had been a clod, but it didn't mean that he still wouldn't, especially after this.

**_Ignore him. He'll think that he got the wrong channel, or maybe I'm not there. _**

"_Rayen, are you there? It's me, Sherman." _

**_Be quiet. Don't. Move. An. Inch. _**Rayen sat as still as she possibly could, hoping that he would just give up.

"_I… wanted to talk to you. Just for a while…to see how you're doing." _

"What?" Rayen gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late.** _I am the greatest idiot the world has ever known. _**

"_Rayen? Are you all right?"_ Sherman asked

Her hand slid off her face. "How did you get this frequency?"

"_Shouldn't you know? You seem to have a lot of info on my team."_

"Your brother, obviously."

Sherman was silent on the other end of the line. Rayen held the comm link up to her ear and listened for any noise that signaled a nearby teammate or their blue sentient. Nothing, just Sherman shifting around.

She lowered the comm link. "What do you want?"

"_Just to talk."_

Rayen snorted. "Good luck with that."

"_You sound tired."_

"I am tired."

"_Training?"_

"What are you driving at?"

Sherman sighed loudly. _"I guess I can't hide it from you… What are you after that requires you to threaten someone's life?"_

"I wasn't going to hurt him in the first place. I was focused more on the battle key than him. Although after he called me a few names, I did think about it," Rayen explained.

"_Well, if that's the case…Maybe we could… help you?"_

"Don't even try it. I know you want me to join your team and the answer will be eternally no. I'm not on any side but my own, so stop asking." She huffed as the line fell silent. Hopefully that sent him packing.

"_If you don't want to join, then can we be friends?"_

She rolled her eyes towards the gray sky. "Your head is denser than the armor on your tank. I'm going to tell you one last time, Sherman. I don't care about you, your team and the worthless emotional sappy morals that you follow. Leave. Me. Alone." Rayen snarled out the last words.

Please let that be the end of it. She couldn't take much more of him.

"_I'm sorry."_

**_Oh great. _**Rayen rested her head in her hand. She hurt his feelings. She studied her modified wristwatch for a moment, waiting to see if the link shut off. After ten long seconds he was still there.

A twisting sensation rapidly grew in the pit of her stomach. It was back. Apparently no matter how much she reasoned with this force it always attacked her at times like these. And it was the one thing that kept her from hurting Zoom. She couldn't let it keep on winning. Magnus had told her not to let it loose, that it was the only thing that could jeopardize the entire mission along with the Multiverse, but… Sherman sounded…

Rayen ran her hand slowly down her face. Okay, maybe she'd let it slide this time, just this one_ last_ time. It would be nice to have someone else to talk to than a near-emotionless Sentient.

"You still there?"

There was a pause before Sherman responded. _"…Yeah."_

"Listen, I can't guarantee you anything, alright? But I guess if you want to talk, I'll let you."

"_Really?"_

**_Happiness: Restored. _**Rayen nodded, "Really. Just as long as you don't try to dig up any confidential info on me."

"_I promise!"_

"Well, that's settled then."

"_Wait, how will you keep Magnus from finding out? I'm sure he won't be pleased with this,"_ Sherman said.

"I'm pretty good at fiddling with data-" An alarm blared in her head, "Whoa! Hold on! How do you know about _him_?"

Sherman cleared his throat, _"Err, Rawkus?"_

Rayen sighed, "The next time I see that chunk of talking space-rock… Well, I guess it was inevitable."

A warning beep sounded from her watch.

"_What was that?"_

Rayen stood up and dusted off her suit. "Magnus is expecting me back. I'll talk to you later."

"_Rayen?"_

"Yeah?"

"_Don't… do anything dangerous during your missions, okay?"_

**_What does he mean by that?_** "No guarantees."

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><p>There was something wrong with the Specter. Rayen tapped and searched through the system's electronics to find some kind of power drainage. She glanced at the speedometer as the car coasted weakly down the path to the main terminal. It was barely touching 70 and there were several warning lights that its hadron energy was low and the engine was going to overheat.<p>

It all began when she started up the car after talking to Sherman. The Specter's engine sounded like it had been flooded and spluttered in and out of life a few times before it could move. Rayen had the dreaded feeling that something had gone wrong with it when she used the Bio system in the last battle, but yet the Specter acted fine when she drove into the Shadow Zone.

Whatever it was, she knew that the Base's maintenance system would find it. She carefully drove the Specter into its bay. The engine wheezed as she pressed the ignition switch. Rayen opened the door and stepped out right as a mechanical arm from the ceiling came swinging down at her. Its pristine silver fingers stopped inches away from her face.

**_I need to recalibrate these things. _**"There's a lack of power. Find it."

The hand nodded. Rayen walked past it while a swarm of mechanized arms descended on the Specter.

Now it was time to find Magnus. Rayen strode up one of the few hallways that snaked around the base. Her mind drifted to these new recent developments. It didn't seem like the BF5 was going to make the mission any easier. Plus the data manipulation that she was going to have to start doing meant dodging around Magnus; which wasn't easy either. She had to pay attention for everything to work seamlessly. Sherman better make these conversations worth her while.

She stopped outside a pair of large steel doors. She looked down to see light leaking out from underneath. Her eyes narrowed.

The light wasn't the typical Sentient Blue. It was…orange?

She stepped forward and the door sensors triggered the slabs of steel to roll back.

Orange light blinded her. She gasped before her hands uselessly shot up to protect her.

"Rayen!" Magnus was somewhere in front of her. She felt him grab her shoulders as he scanned her for any injuries.

"It seems that the battle keys overwhelmed your vision. Your vision will be back shortly. I'm terribly sorry, Rayen." Magnus said.

She slowly opened her eyes and found a wall of colored dots filling her sight. She could only see the blurry silhouette of Magnus. Rayen blinked several times and rubbed her eyes, erasing more of the dots.

"It's alright. Just warn me the next time you're going to do that." She looked around the giant domed structure of the central control room. Bright screens floated all over the dark walls, filled with Sentient glyphs that she had recently begun to understand. Two battle keys floated side by side in the center of the room.

"Can you see better?" Magnus asked as he watched her glancing around.

"With the exception of a few stray dots, I can see fine now."

Magnus nodded and floated over to the keys. "Good, but I underestimated the energy that the keys produced when I extracted the data. I won't let it happen again."

"S'alright. What's the next step?" Rayen walked over to a nearby computer that was monitoring the Specter's repairs. So far no energy drain was found.

"The data reads that there is a key that will tell the location of another key that unlocks the specified Interzone." Magnus pointed to the largest screen.

Rayen studied it. "So we basically need two more battle keys."

Magnus nodded, "In theory, although I have my suspicions that the last key is most likely a data log. That's how most Interzones operate. My calculations suggest that the mission will be in its final stages in a few weeks."

Rayen folded her arms. "And it will end this stupid war, right?"

"Of course. It was designed for emergency purposes in case the balance of the Multiverse was . With the Red Sentients and Battle Force 5 being at equal strength, this war will go on for eternity. And humans only have a fraction of that time."

"Right. Where's the next key?"

"On Vandal."

Rayen turned to Magnus. "Are you serious? The last time I was on that mud hole, the air intakes were choking, the air filters were blocked and a nest of mutated dragonflies made their home in the engine bay!"

"That was a bad place to do some light maintenance in the first place," Magnus lectured, "The key has been dormant, but even when it awakens in a few days, Kalus will not know until it is too late. We have the upper hand."

"I didn't realize that mud puddle was deep enough the jam the engine," Rayen growled.

Magnus shook his head. "Prepare your vehicle. You must not fail. Dismissed."

Rayen stomped out of the room. "I _hate_ that planet."

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><p><strong>AN: It seems that Rayen shares Stanford's hatred for Vandal XD. And a big thank you to InvaderLuver for the amazing idea that you shall see in the future…Mwhaha…*cough* Well, anyway, until next time, thanks for reading!**


	8. Fused Goal :: Key Hunting

**A/N: What's this? An update? Finally, this is done. It's a bit shorter than usual and I wanted to add more, but goodness, this chapter would be a mile long.**

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><p>"Well, it's been two weeks, guys, and that crazy chick hasn't come back." Stanford announced, his soda cup raised towards the ceiling. There was a general nodding of heads with a few groans as everyone tore into Zeke's pizza. The diner was virtually empty; Grace was nowhere in sight and Zeke, well, he was somewhere, probably trying to communicate with aliens.<p>

"Ya think the Mobi scared her off?" A.J. asked before stuffing his face with more pizza.

"Highly unlikely. Judging from our last encounter, the Mobi was nothing more than an unexpected annoyance to her." Tezz said.

Agura smacked her soda down. "I agree. She'll be back, but next time we'll make her beg for mercy."

"Do I smell an impending cat fight?" Spinner piped up.

The Huntress sighed. "Spinner! I'm not sure if you do, but I for one don't take one of our teammates being held hostage lightly."

"She called me a monkey," Zoom pouted.

"Ever think there was some resemblance?" Spinner mumbled.

Zoom jumped out of his seat and assumed a fighting stance. "Not cool, dude. Not cool at all."

Vert waved a hand at the scout. "Settle you guys. Rayen might have held someone hostage and taken our battle keys, but we'll get her back in due time. Remember, she hasn't gone against a fused vehicle yet."

"We'll totally thrash her!" A.J. gave Vert a high-five.

Sherman sat beside his brother, who was exchanging death glares with Zoom. The younger brother chewed absent-mindedly on his pizza slice as the conversation drifted on. It was weird that everyone was practically ignoring Rawkus's words about if Rayen got on the bad side of the Equalizer. Right now with the situation with Zoom, she was slated on the mortal enemy list along with the RS5, Sark and Vandals.

_She needs to get away from Magnus. _Sherman reached for another slice of pizza. _He's gotta be the one that's influencing her. I hope talking to her is enough. _

He looked at Spinner who was joking with Vert about something. It was still hard to tell if his older brother was putting up an act or if he was actually agreeing with everybody else. Sherman hoped he was still with him on this. It would make him feel less like a traitor by talking to Rayen. H wondered what she was doing right now…

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><p>The Specter trundled down another muddy path on the infernal Vandal home world. Rayen wasn't exactly sure where the power drain had come from or why it was gone, but she was just thankful that the modified air intakes gulped down the heavy atmosphere with ease. It was never fun to have a car that consumed gallons of air a minute. Nor was it fun to hunt for a dormant battle key in the middle of a world that was a giant Jurassic Park on steroids. Minus the dinosaurs.<p>

_But this place would be ten times cooler with dinosaurs… _Rayen sighed as she turned around another corner. She stopped and scanned the narrow track. The Heads Up Display placed a red dot on the middle of the road. A pit. With giant mutant spiders in the bottom.

Rayen smacked her head against the top of the steering wheel. "I hate this planet."

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><p>"I HATE THIS PLANET!" Stanford screamed.<p>

The battle force groaned as they idled in front of the open storm shock. The alarm already interrupted them during lunch and now Stanford was once again a basket case. This was proving to be a lousy start to the mission.

Spinner shook his head in annoyance. "Can someone please tell me why we let Stanford come along?"

"For the sheer fact that he wanted to take his newly waxed car over to the diner and Tezz and A.J.'s rides are being upgraded," Agura said, "For now on, you're riding in either of those two's vehicles when we go over to Zeke's."

"Does anybody find it weird that there's a battle key on Vandal?" Zoom asked.

"Well yeah. This place isn't a battle zone and it's definitely not a first choice for Intergalactic tourism," Spinner said.

Agura studied the nearby trees. "A trap maybe?"

"Sage confirmed it was a key and I don't think Krytus has the ability to trigger storm shocks," Sherman replied.

"Let's look for the key before Kalus and his horde do. Stick to a path, but don't get out of commlink range. And if the Specter appears, don't take it on alone. Immediately call for help once you get a visual on her."

Varying degrees of compliance was heard from his team before the vehicles veered down their own separate paths. With the exception of Sherman, everyone was secretly hoping not to run in the Specter.

* * *

><p>A sharp set of beeps rang from the center console in the Specter. Rayen hit a button on the steering wheel with her thumb, accepting the trans dimensional communication.<p>

A hologram of Magnus's head appeared. "Rayen the key has been activated; the Battle Force 5 and the Red Sentients have arrived."

"Oh great."

"Do not worry. The Reverb cannot pinpoint the exact location due to all the ground clutter and Krytus does not have any type of sonar tracking technology. The odds are still in our favor."

"I have a general area of where the key is, but it still might take a while, Magnus. I don't think I'll be able to get out of here without at least running into someone."

"That's perfectly fine. If you do happen to run into someone… It's fine if you… lose them to oblivion."

Rayen raised an eyebrow. _Oblivion? He doesn't mean __**that**__ kind, does he?_ "You mean get them lost out here? That's not hard to do. Heck, I know I'm lost."

She glanced at the console. The Blue Sentient's face was unreadable.

After a long silence, he spoke. "Of course. The Heads-up Display can identify false roads the traps on Vandal. It might be a good idea to use them to your advantage. The fewer enemies you have, the smoother this will go."

_Well, that sounds a little more like him… but still… _

"Rayen, the radar is detecting someone from the Battle Force is heading your way. Do whatever you like to get rid of the opponent. I will be monitoring." Magnus's hologram flashed off.

The HUD marked that someone was on a parallel trail close to hers and was about to enter the same intersection. Rayen gunned the engine and swerved into the intersection, blocking the trail next to hers. The squeal of brakes from the other vehicle filled the cabin of the Specter. Reddish brown dust flew high into the air as the other vehicle stopped. Rayen automatically hit a few buttons on the center console and sent out a commlink jamming signal. She smiled as the dust cleared, revealing her first casualty of the day.

"Hello Miss Ibaden."

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><p><strong>AN: Oh noes! It's Agura's turn to face the Specter! Also, I just want to say thank you for all those who read this story and have stayed loyal to it even though I take forever to update this thing. It means a lot! T_T**


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